Everything RR:
Rescue Ranger Advertising
or, "Golly, Chip, How Else Are We Gonna Pay for Our Disney Channel
Subscription?"
v. 1.5
Please bear with us. This is a synopsis of some of the Rescue Ranger
television advertising. It is mostly from memory. It shows.
This document covers commercials for the show, and commercials for RR
products and premiums.
The synopses show the action and dialogue- all I could remember, at least.
Missing scenes or phrases are denoted with this intrinsically brilliant
symbol: "...". If there are really big chunks missing, like a sentence or
more, we have prepared for this too. Behold the mighty "....". Should a
part be inexact or not well remembered, it gets [this treatment.]
Beauty eh!
Most of the show advertisements were made up entirely of scenes from the
show, naturally. Unless a visual scene has something particularly special
about it (is live-action, is custom-animated, etc.) I won't mention it.
These are _very_ roughly put in the order in which they began broadcasting,
mostly because the categories sort of fall into that order anyway.
Fat Cat and his gang open their front door and find a huge walnut at
their feet, complete with blue ribbon and the RR symbol. They are curious
for a moment- but suddenly the walnut pops open and two plungers shoot out
at the gang. The plungers (and attached ropes) whirl around them and tie
them up. We look down into the walnut and see Chip and Dale, looking
ferocious.
Mole: Who are these guys?
Announcer: They're television's newest crimefighting heroes... along with
Gadget, Zipper and Monterey Jack....
At the end, there is a simple RR logo and the station's announcer
speaks.
Local announcer: Coming October [16th]...
Note. Most stations announced Monday, October 16th, 1989, which was
indeed the premiere of the series. But some gave the station's first
showing of To the Rescue, the previous Saturday or Sunday.
I think... Disney's own database was supposedly screwed up about this
for a while.
RR had a Christm- COUGH! -holiday
announcement. The background music? We Wish You a Merry Christmas,
[d'oh!] played by the horn section.
Brief exterior shot of RRHQ. It looks positively cute, bare of leaves and
coated in snow, but decorated with lights.
Dale is out on a limb, literally, shoveling snow.
Dale (in time, and somewhat in tune:) Do do do de do do do do,
do do do do de do do do-
About now, Chip happens along and gets snowed right in the
kisser.
Dale (from "and a happy new year," skipping a few measures:) Do do de do do-
Chip jumps on him and they roll conveniently into RRHQ, past Monty,
squabbling.
Monty (sternly:) 'Ere now mates, [?!?!] this is no time for
quarrels. [????!!!]
He serves up cider and Chip and Dale immediately calm down and toast each
other. Must be good cider. ;)
Monty: ....and share our blessin's with each other.
Cut to presumably the opposite side of the room, where there is a sort of
Franklin stove (made from a cola can?) as well as Gadget and Zipper. Zipper
is busy hauling in wood; I think Gadget just attempted to look busy.
;)
Gadget: Right. That's what the real spirit of the holidays is [all]
about.
Announcer: So from everyone [all of us?] at Chip n' Dale's Rescue
Rangers to everyone at home...
Cutest Ranger groupshot ever to exist. They all wave and smile.
Rangers: Happy holidays!
The Disney Afternoon started advertising with an spot during the Disney
Parks Fourth of July special of 1990. The special itself, incidentally,
mentioned DA Avenue, Disneyland's momentary tribute to the upcoming DA.
Ten weeks before its premiere, the DA started a week-by-week "countdown"
campaign. Most of the series consisted of show scenes- with one infamous
exception.
After its premiere, the Disney Afternoon continued advertising with show
snippets, and any RR-specific ads mentioned the DA.
(percussion/horns here)
In Background: Give it to them!
Announcer: Now it's time to shake the house with the C 'n D Music
Factory!
Dale: Hey Chip, wanna dance?
In Background: Give it, give it.
Scene of Chip and Dale sort of dancing toward each other, back to back.
Ann: It's so hot it's cool, so good it's bad.
Chip and Dale give the audience the thumbs-up.
Nimnul: Time for a really big show!
Gadget: This is so strange!
Ann: Come on, move your feet to the funky beat of the hippest crew in town-
the Rescue Rangers! (cram-the-info-in speed) Chip 'n Dale return
with more action and adventure Monday through Friday.
In Background: Thank you.
This commercial really isn't as weird as it sounds. It is to bassy public
domain music, and is really rather cool. The new animation is a treat.
Back to top
Well, nothing like that. More like commercials for RR products.
After the first half of the ad, the screen "flips" to reveal Chip and Dale
riding a wave. Chip is surfing; Dale is on an inner tube.
Chip: Watch, Gadget!
Dale: No, watch me!
The wave crashes into the sand.
Chip and Dale: Yeow!
The wave recedes and Chip and Dale are stuck tail up in the shoreline, up
(down?) to the waist. Note the fish in the lower left hand corner. The other
Rangers are standing by them.
Gadget: I think they're stuck!
Live action of someone putting a sticker on a drinking glass.
Ann.: You can get Chip 'n Dale unstuck with these reusable Rescue Ranger
stickers. One free in Kellogg's Froot Loops. You can collect all four.
Chip is in the park, looking at a scrap of paper in numeric code.
Interestingly, it ends in an exclamation point.
Chip: Hey Dale, does this make sense [to you?] -yow!
Chip is startled by Dale, who is hiding behind a magnifying glass.
Dale: Looks like a secret message to me!
Ann.: You can send and receive secret messages [too] with this Rescue
Ranger Decoder, [one] free in Kellogg's Apple Jacks!
There are three commercials in this series. Two are half-dedicated to the RR
Happy Meal; one is a full thirty seconds of Rangers.
Animated scene. Closeup of Chip, who peers through binoculars at
something. He is in the Whirly Cupter. He lowers his binoculars and gets
an expression of dire urgency, possibly low blood sugar. >:)
Chip: Rescue Rangers, away!
Zoom out. Chip speeds off. The others, below him on the RRHQ landing
strip, jump in their respective vehicles and take off. Still shots of the
toys, with some live-action mix-and-match work.
Ann.: [Disney's] Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers toys are at McDonald's!
[And when you buy a McDonald's Happy Meal] You can get one of four
wonderfully wacky rescue toys, like a Propel-a-phone or a Roto-Roadster!
McDonald's Happy Meal!
The next scene is anim over live action. In the background, there is a
happy squeal that sounds suspiciously like Chip. Someone opens the back
door of the restaurant in surprise as the Rangers fly in.
Ann.: They're flying into McDonald's!
The RR's have reached the front of our view by now.
Chip: Rescue Rangers, away!
Ann.: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers are at McDonald's! ....
Chip is looking through the binoculars again. Obviously this is a pretty
rough McDonald's.
Chip: Uh-oh!
In a window seat there is a baby sitting (alone) and playing with his or
her fries. There seems to be some potential for a mess, and Chip determines
that no babies are gonna be messy on his shift!
Chip: Rescue Rangers, away!
The Rangers fly around, distracting the baby from his(?) meal, while the
announcer talks. (Whatever he said.) Somehow Gadget manages to grab a
napkin from the dispenser in midflight (this was offscreen, maybe they
attached it before she took off >:) ) and drops it gingerly to the
child.
Gadget: Need a napkin?
The announcer talks more, the Rangers zip around, and they all live
unmessily ever after.
Capcom's Rescue Rangers 1 game
Same ad campaign as Ducktales by Capcom. They put thousands of kids in a
dark boiler room and have them play and comment on the game while the
announcer says something astute. The only specifics I can remember are the
announcer saying, "....and rescue their good friend Gadget...." and a shot
of the video game with an axe coming down on Chip and the kid playing it
making an apt face and a noise of pain. Lovely, lighthearted little romp.
Ads for the Show
Disney Channel and pre-premiere broadcast
This advertisement was on the Disney Channel USA, probably in the summer of
1988. It discussed the new fall lineup and had a brief scene from
Risky Beesness, with all the Rangers swinging on Chip's rope. At least, I
think that's what it was. It was scrambled. This could be the
first ad for RR- it dates back to before the show even made it to that
channel.
Maybe the First
Advertisement Ever to Mention RR. (MFAEMRR for short? Nah.)
Played during "Behind the Scenes with Chip n' Dale," the half-hour
special preceding the two-hour premiere of "To the Rescue."
Also seen a week or so before that premiere. The First Broadcast TV
Teaser.Pre-Disney Afternoon broadcast
Oh, _how_ did I FORGET this one?!?! Good soul who
pointed it out to me, please please email me! I wanna credit you! ): The Decemberish Commercial.
Pre-DA, for DA
Around t-minus-two weeks, there was a commercial that went as usual, except
for two things: it featured the singing of Marie Osmond, and the
second-to-last scene had- swallow your food before you read this-
Gadget dancing.
And after six years, the wired world finally has proof. (: "I told you so, Ethyl." Disney Afternoon
These ads simply mentioned RR in passing as part of the current block. Some
were better than others; one went something like "nibble away with those
cute and cuddly critters, the RR's..." They were pretty much just commercials. Generic-type DA ads.
Old stock footage 'n strikingly little animation. Whoever wrote it
obviously never watched the show. It's a theoretical construct, what
would your parents be like if they watched RR as kids. Yawn. CDTV (or, Your Parents
are Lame, Even With Rescue Rangers).
One of the interminably cool RR commercials.
Used to be played after the Saturday broadcast, on stations that showed RR
six days a week. Made up of show scenes, except for two parts. C 'n D Music Factory.
Commercials, the Really Commercial Kind
Kellogg's
Appeared as one of those commercials where they severely edit a
normal cereal commercial and use the last ten seconds for the special promotion.
(Incidentally, the front half of this ad had Toucan Sam rapping with a
rhinocerous who sounded distinctly like Jim Cummings. Good thing it went
uphill quickly.) All the animation in this one is exclusive. Froot Loops Stickers.
First half of the ad unknown. All this animation is also exclusive.Apple Jacks Decoder.
Ooh, caught the old rusty brain on this one. It was anim-on-live. The Rangers,
possibly in vehicles, drop onto a table and a bowl falls over them. A kid picks
the bowl up and lo, the Rangers have been plasticized for our amusement.
Front half of ad unknown. Frosted Flakes Figurines
(say that five times fast.)The McDonald's Series
Ronald gets into a box and drives off. Whee. The first one.
All the McDonald's gang run behind a cardboard facsimile of a large
tandem bicycle. It's hard to explain, just another odd day in McDonaldland.
The second one.
The full thirty-second RR Happy Meal ad. Thought to be mostly, if not
entirely, animation on live. The coolest one.Capcom
Everything Rescue Ranger
Products - Fan Work -
Rarities - Advertising -
Music - Elsewhere on Earth -
Transcripts
Document last mucked with: 2 Feb 1997.